This inspection took place over two days on 5 and 10 December 2018. The last inspection was in March 2016 when the service was rated as Good with no breaches of regulation.

Pennine Camphill Community provides accommodation and personal care for up to 29 people with learning disabilities, some of whom are living with autism. It is a specialist residential college of further education and is situated on the outskirts of Wakefield. Accommodation is provided in five individually staffed houses. At the time of our inspection only two houses were accommodating students. The service is registered with CQC to provide accommodation and personal care as single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the living accommodation and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection.

At the time of this inspection there were 10 people using the service.

The service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There was a registered manager at the service.

People who used the service were referred to as students and this terminology is used throughout this report.

Students told us they felt safe at Pennine Camphill Community and relatives we spoke with appreciated the environment the service provided for students to be able to access the outdoors safely.

Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place but the service had not recognised some concerns as safeguarding issues and had not reported them appropriately. Risks assessments were in place but we found these were not always being used effectively. Positive risk taking was supported.

Some improvements were needed in the way medicines were managed and audited.

A health and safety group had recently been developed.

There were enough staff and volunteer co-workers to provide students with the support they needed and the provider had safe and effective recruitment and selection procedures in place.

Staff received training appropriate to their needs although evidence gathered during the inspection suggested staff would benefit from further training in MCA and DoLS.

Students were not always supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff lacked an understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, consent issues and people’s right to make choices.

Students told us they enjoyed the food at the service although we did not see evidence of people being involved in menu planning. Some people followed restrictive diets although there was little evidence to support the reasons for this.

Students had confidence in staff and we saw caring, compassionate and friendly interactions between staff and students although language used by staff was not always respectful.

Although we saw evidence of some good practice, students’ privacy and dignity needs were not always fully considered.

Students were encouraged to develop their independence and we saw examples of this. However, lack of choice in some areas did not fully support this.

Some improvements were needed in relation to documentation and practice to demonstrate a fully person-centred approach. Some care records had been developed in a person-centred manner but lacked evidence of student involvement.

A complaints procedure was in place and easy read information was available to support students to express any concerns.

Students had opportunities to engage in activities and new experiences of their choice.

Some routines within the service restricted student’s opportunity to make lifestyle choices and there was little evidence of this being assessed on an individual basis.

People had confidence in the management team and they were open abo

The inspection of Pennine Camphill Community took place on 23 March 2016 and was unannounced.

Pennine Camphill Community provides accommodation and personal care for up to 29 people with learning disabilities, some of whom are living with autism. It is a specialist residential college of further education and is situated on the outskirts of Wakefield. At the time of this inspection there were 13 people using the service.

The service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. There were three registered managers at the service.

Staff had a good understanding about safeguarding adults from abuse and who to contact if they suspected any abuse. Risks assessments were individual to people’s needs and minimised risk whilst promoting people’s independence.

There were enough staff and volunteer co-workers to provide a good level of interaction and the provider had effective recruitment and selection procedures in place.

Staff and volunteer co-workers had received an induction, supervision, appraisal and specialist training to enable them to provide support to the people who lived at Pennine Camphill Community. This ensured they had the knowledge and skills to support the people who lived there.

People’s capacity was always considered when decisions needed to be made.

People grew some of their own food and were supported to eat a balanced diet. Mealtimes were a social occasion in the houses.

Staff interacted with people in a caring, friendly, professional manner. People were supported to be as independent as possible throughout their daily lives.

Individual needs were assessed and met through the development of personalised care plans and risk assessments. People and their representatives were involved in care planning and reviews. People engaged in educational, work and leisure activities which were person centred.

There had been no complaints at the service, but people told us they knew how to complain and told us staff were always approachable.

People received person centred individualised planning and support when moving between services.

The culture of the organisation was open and transparent. The managers were visible in the service and knew the needs of the people who used it.

The registered provider had an overview of the service. They audited and monitored the service to ensure the needs of the people were met and that the service provided was to a high standard.

We spoke with the manager, two staff, one volunteer co-worker and four people who used the service.

We saw people were respected and involved in what took place in the setting. For example, staff were seen to include people in discussions about what they wanted to do and the activities in their day. People told us they liked being at Pennine Camphill Community. Staff told us they put each person at the centre of what they did.

We saw people were settled and happy. We observed people were involved in purposeful activities and they worked in small groups with other people and the staff responsible for their learning and well-being. We looked at two care records and saw these were detailed with information about people's individual needs.

We saw premises were well maintained, easily accessible and secure. People told us they knew what to do in an emergency, such as a fire drill.

We observed people enjoyed their meals and food was served in good quantities for people’s needs, within a homely atmosphere.

We saw there were systems in place for assessing the quality of the provision.

Students told us they like coming to the college. One student said they like digging and planting things to grow. Another student working in the kitchen told us they like cooking and don’t mind doing the washing up. Another student said they like baking and showed us the cake they had made.

Students told us they like the people looking after them. One student said they like learning how to do things and in particular looking after the cows as they have very long horns.

Students told us they are happy working at the college and they like the people supporting them One student we could not communicate with appeared very happy and was singing when delivering groceries to the houses on campus.

Students were observed being treated with dignity and respect at all times

One student told us they like their co-worker as they are kind and help them do things.

Students were observed relaxing on their tea break and throughout positive relationships were observed being fostered between the students, volunteers and co-workers.

Students said they enjoy attending the college. One person said they particularly like looking after the chickens. They went on to say that it is their job to collect all the eggs for people to eat. Another indicated that they like digging and getting the ground ready for planting things to grow.

Students attending the college said they like coming to the Pennine Community and they feel safe and well looked after.

Students attending the college say they like the people looking after them. One student said they like their co-worker as they are kind and help them to do things.

Students we could not communicate with appeared happy and content. Positive relationships were observed being fostered between those students attending the college and those supporting them. People were observed being treated with dignity and respect at all times

One student said they like their co-worker as they are kind and help them do things..

Students said they like doing things and they like the people supporting them. Students that we could not communicate with appeared to be happy and relaxed in the company of those supporting them.